Tamxarit!

This past Wednesday the Senegalese celebrated another Islamic holiday, called Tamxarit. Tamxarit is a holiday meant to celebrate the Muslim New Year. It is a month after Tabaski on the Islamic calendar. Tamxarit is celebrated on the night of a full moon just as their is a full moon on the night of Tabaski. For this holiday the Senegalese eat a big meal of couscous and chicken. This is why my work gave to me two frozen chickens to take home to my family, although I was a bit confused at first what was happening when they tried to give me the chickens. There was a man outside with a large bag of frozen chickens and one of the employees called me over to check it out, when I outside drinking tea at Tatan Fatou's kitchen. This was also the day after I was finally getting over the affects from the food poisoning so I was still a little out of it. At first I thought he was asking if I wanted to buy the chickens and I said I didn't want any chickens, but then he clarified that the chickens were a gift so I accepted them. It was the first time I had ever received frozen chickens from anyone as a gift. I thought it was appropriate that my first time be in Senegal because I eat so much chicken here. Unfortunately I forgot to bring the chickens with me when I first returned home from lunch, so I was sure to go back to get them so that I could give them to my family to prepare for the holiday. 

After work I returned home and took a short nap because I was pretty tired from the day. Although they don't assign me a lot of work, my days at the Chamber of Commerce feel very long because of the 8pm-6pm hours. When I woke up it was about time for dinner and I was ready to eat as my appetite had finally returned. Louise put up nice lights on the bushes and my sisters set up the mat out in the driveway, which made for a very nice setting. For dinner we had the chicken and couscous as expected and I definitely had my fair share as did everyone else. Even after I had eaten my sister Djelia said that I hadn't eaten well and said that I should continue eating. I've noticed that with the Senegalese holidays it's always expected that everyone eats a lot and is fully satisfied after the meal. This was the same with Tabaski as we ate so much lamb that day. Today, however, was dedicated to the chicken and couscous. 

My family out on the driveway with the nice lights

For dessert we had a mix of couscous and warm milk, tiere ak mewe. This is a common Senegalese dish and it tastes a lot like oatmeal actually. I enjoyed it although I didn't eat too much because I'm still a little nervous about how I would react to the milk from Senegal. Then after dessert Djelia made her special drink of Sprite and mint grenadine syrup which she makes every Tamxarit. I enjoyed that as well and she seemed very happy to be making it. 

Tiere ak Mewe

Djelia and her signature drink

It was now pretty late into the night, about 10pm, and the festivities that I had heard so much about were about to commence. Before today Amadou and his friend Xadim had joked a great deal about how I was going to have to wear women's clothes for this holiday because that's a big part of the celebration. However, no one in my family actually participated in the tradition of cross dressing for which Tamxarit is so well known. It turned out to be something that only the younger kids did as they went from house to house playing music, singing and asking for treats and other goodies. It was basically exactly like Halloween in the states, except better to me because the kids carried around instruments and would dance and sing for each household to get treats unlike the kids in America who just say "trick or treat" when they ask for candy. Although the costumes are much more elaborate in the states. For Tamxarit the girls just dress like old Senegalese men and I saw only a few boys dressed as old Senegalese women as most of them were in their regular clothes just had white paint on their face. I asked my mom what was the purpose of the white paint and she said it was supposed to be so that people wouldn't recognize the children the next day. 

After all of the children were done coming by we relaxed in the living room while Amadou made tea. Overall Tamxarit was a fun experience. Not quite as eventful as Tabaski, but it was very entertaining to see all of the children come by the house and do their different performances for the treats. 

My brother Amadou pouring the Ataya